S/PV.4004 Security Council

I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Tajikistan, in which he requests to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council’s agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the discussion, without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided.

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Tajikistan, document S/1999/514. Members of the Council also have before them document S/1999/557, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations. I give the floor to the representative of Tajikistan.

Tajikistan greatly values the constant attention and growing support of the international community for the process of achieving lasting peace, stability and national reconciliation in our country. Today’s meeting of the Security Council, and the decision to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) for a further six months, is yet a further clear reaffirmation of the direct We greatly value the activities of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Tajikistan, Mr. Jan Kubiš, and the entire UNMOT staff who, together with the Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and in close cooperation with the members of the Contact Group, notably the representatives of Russia and Iran, are actively promoting the efforts of the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhmonov, and the Commission on National Reconciliation, to speed up the practical implementation of the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in our country. We express our deepest gratitude to all the staff of the UNMOT, who, in close cooperation with the military personnel of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Collective Peacekeeping Forces and the Russian border forces, continue to make a significant contribution to stabilizing the situation in Tajikistan. We view the draft resolution before the Security Council this evening as an expression of the Council’s intention to continue actively to follow the situation in Tajikistan and to bolster the positive trends in the peace process. It is important that the Security Council should advocate protecting the valuable active role played by UNMOT in helping to implement the General Agreement, and to that end should strengthen the organizational and financial foundations of the Mission’s activities. As the report of the Secretary-General rightly notes, despite difficulties and isolated outbreaks of tension, “The peace process in Tajikistan has made some progress” [S/1999/514, para. 29]. We have noted essential changes in all aspects of compliance with the General Agreement, in both the political and the military spheres. It is important that the spirit of accord and cooperation in Tajik society and among the country’s major political forces should continue to prevail over feelings of mistrust and confrontation. Most important of all, we are increasingly seeing an improvement in peoples’ frame of mind: their belief in a peaceful future for Tajikistan is growing. This is accompanied by an upswing in the economic and other spheres of Tajik life, as sometimes seen through indirect but nonetheless indicative signs such as the fact that To meet expectations; to build on what has already been achieved; to retain all the positive and useful things that have been done in recent times; not to allow the growing momentum towards peace and stability to be diverted or reversed: these are the central tasks that are being carried out today, in cooperation with the Commission on National Reconciliation, by the President of Tajikistan, Mr. Emomali Rakhmonov, who is the key guarantor of the irreversibility of the peace process in our country. It is hoped in Tajikistan that donor States will respond appropriately to the sincere determination of the leadership and all the country’s healthy political forces to establish peace and stability, which will enable us actively to continue the democratic, social and economic reforms that had been undermined by internal conflict. We must acknowledge that our country, lately emerged from civil war, is not yet able fully to meet the humanitarian needs of its population or to achieve a quick upswing in its economy. We are grateful to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for their support of the Government of Tajikistan’s efforts to implement structural reform and economic recovery programmes. Our joint work with the United Nations Development Programme and other international humanitarian organizations is also yielding its first results. But the lack of resources for reconstruction and development and for the reintegration into civilian life of former participants in the hostilities, in line with the outcome of the international donor conference held at Vienna in November 1997, has a significant impact on the pace and consistency of the implementation of the General Agreement. Targeted investment in the peace process today would be a critically important contribution to the further normalization of the situation in the Republic and would help bring about speedier solutions to the gravest problems of our transitional period. It would also open the prospect of sustained growth for Tajikistan. We are pleased with the increasing support from the United Nations International Drug Control Programme; by the terms of the agreement signed by the Government of Tajikistan, this support goes to our border forces, who along with their Russian counterparts are carrying out the exceedingly complex task of stopping the flow of drugs across the Afghan-Tajik border. This, we feel, is in the interest not only of Tajikistan and Russia but of many other States as well. The peace process in Tajikistan, established and supported with the invaluable contribution of the United Nations and of the entire international community, is entering a new and extremely serious stage in its development. The forthcoming constitutional reform exercise and elections will be a serious test of the unified nature and sustainability of that process. The sincere desire of Tajik society to show its maturity, its dedication to democratic values and its interest in a peaceful future for its country more than ever needs wide-ranging international support. We hope that we will be able this year through our common efforts to make the decisive breakthrough to a final peace settlement in Tajikistan.

It is my understanding that the Security Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution (S/1999/557) before it. If I hear no objection, I shall now put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided.